意 (yì) means Meaning (wish - desire - expect - intention). Below are 24 of the 228 sentences on this site that use it — with pinyin, an English translation and audio. All of them were written by hand; none is machine generated.
Dictionary examples
请注 意 听重点。
Qǐng zhùyì tīng zhòngdiǎn.
Please listen out for the main points.
Dictionary example · HSK 4 · 重点
大家随 意 坐吧。
Dàjiā suíyì zuò ba.
Everyone please sit wherever you like.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 随意
过马路要注 意 车。
Guò mǎlù yào zhùyì chē.
Watch out for cars when crossing the road.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 注意
你不用特 意 打扮。
Nǐ búyòng tèyì dǎban.
You do not need to dress up specially.
Dictionary example · HSK 4 · 打扮
Reading these is one thing; producing 意 yourself is another. Cloze in Context takes a sentence from this same bank, removes one word and asks you to put it back — beginner, intermediate and advanced.
From the graded readers
可是身体先不同 意 了。
kěshì shēntǐ xiān bùtóng yì le / liǎo / liào.
But my body disagreed first.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Facing Pressure
我很后悔，也很不好 意 思。
wǒ hěn hòuhuǐ, yě hěn bùhǎoyìsi.
I was full of regret, and ashamed.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · A Misunderstanding
我很不好 意 思地给卖家发了消息。
wǒ hěn bùhǎoyìsi dì / de gěi mài jiā fā le / liǎo / liào xiāoxi.
I messaged the seller, rather embarrassed.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · Shopping Online
我很不好 意 思地说：“对不起，我迟到了。”
wǒ hěn bùhǎoyìsi dì / de shuō:" duìbuqǐ, wǒ chídào le / liǎo / liào."
I said awkwardly, "Sorry, I'm late."
Graded reader · HSK 2 · Late for Work
因为我第一次觉得，我做的事情是有 意 义的。
yīnwèi wǒ dìyīcì juéde, wǒ zuò de / dì shìqing shì yǒu yìyì de / dì.
Because for the first time, what I was doing felt like it meant something.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Changing Jobs
他非常不好 意 思，说：“对不起，我的腿不太好，每天晚上要走一会儿。”
tā fēicháng bùhǎoyìsi, shuō:" duìbuqǐ, wǒ de(possessive) tuǐ bù tài hǎo / hào, měitiān wǎnshang yāo zǒu yìhuir."
He was mortified. "I'm so sorry — my legs aren't good and I have to walk about for a while each night."
Graded reader · HSK 3 · The Neighbour Upstairs
From the travel phrasebook
下批要注 意 。
Xià pī yào zhùyì.
The next batch needs care.
Travel phrasebook · Quality problems and claims
我随 意 ，您随便。
Wǒ suíyì, nín suíbiàn.
I'll sip; please do as you like.
Travel phrasebook · Business dining and toasting
From the grammar library
我买的书很有 意 思。
Wǒ mǎi de shū hěn yǒu yìsi.
The book I bought is interesting.
Grammar library · HSK 1 · 的 for possession and description
意 appears in 228 sentences on this site; the 24 shortest and most direct are shown. The rest are on the pages they were written for — the graded readers, the phrasebook and the grammar library.
Words that contain 意
Each of these has sentences of its own, so you can see the character doing a different job in each one.
Questions about 意
How is 意 used in a sentence?
This page shows 228 sentences using 意 (yì, "Meaning (wish - desire - expect - intention)"), each with pinyin, an English translation and audio. Every one of them was written by hand for this site.
Are these sentences machine generated?
No. They come from the site's own dictionary examples, graded readers, travel phrasebook and grammar library — all written by a person. A word with no sentence gets no page here, rather than a page of invented ones.
Why do some sentences show 意 inside a longer word?
Because that is where a single character usually lives. Seeing 意 inside the words it builds is how the character stops being an isolated symbol and starts being something you can read.
Where can I see the full entry for 意?
The dictionary page for 意 has its stroke order, its traditional form, every sense the dictionary lists and a character-by-character breakdown. It is linked at the top of this page.
Keep going
Read the full entry for 意, write a sentence of your own and check it in the Pinyin Annotator, or search the whole sentence bank for another word.
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